ClamRussel wrote:As soon as we have a coach who will give Kassian a legit shot on a top line we'll see his offence flourish. He's got a very decent shot and is already perhaps our best playmaker not named Hank. For that reason alone he'd work well w/ the Twins, create room for them, do the dirty work, cycle w/ them & protect them. He'd also do well w/ Kesler in he could BE the setup man 17 needs. Wingers who are setup men don't grow on trees and are invaluable for a shooter like Kesler. Down the road he could be laying the sauce for Shinkaruk or whoever we land at 6.

I agree that he's got all the tools, but I worry about his conditioning and mental make-up to play a top-6 role consistently. He was playing great in a depth role this year, and if that development continues he should be able to solidify a top-6 role. The biggest obstacle will be his conditioning and maintaining his awareness. If he can't keep the feet moving and the brain working at a high level for that 16-18 minutes/night he will be less effective.

He definitely should be on the PP, though.

Kassian is in good shape, however I agree having him in a 2nd or 3rd line role for now is beneficial for quality depth.

I'm all for swapping out Burrows and replacing him with a bigger, tougher winger who can still play top minutes and play well with the Sedins and to me that is Scott Hartnell.

My proposal:

Edler + Hansen for Hartnell + depth dman.

Then we can trade Burrows to the Habs for Josh Georges, as we need another good gritty defensive dman, our porous defense was way too sloppy this season.

I'm sure the Flyers would go for it, but with Hartnell having a NMC, I don't see it working. He did seem to have fun with the Sedins during their time at the All-Star game ("Suck it Phaneuf!"), and I'd much rather have him than Burrows, but his contract ($4.75M until 2018-19 when he's 37) and NMC probably prevent it.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I'm sure the Flyers would go for it, but with Hartnell having a NMC, I don't see it working. He did seem to have fun with the Sedins during their time at the All-Star game ("Suck it Phaneuf!"), and I'd much rather have him than Burrows, but his contract ($4.75M until 2018-19 when he's 37) and NMC probably prevent it.

Don't like the idea of trading for an older player in his 30s for Edler. They have to get younger players/assets back. He was rumored to be going to the Bruins if the Kesler deal went through. Tampa might be another potential landing spot this off-season. Outside of Hedman, Carle (and the injured Salo), they have a no-name defense.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I'm sure the Flyers would go for it, but with Hartnell having a NMC, I don't see it working. He did seem to have fun with the Sedins during their time at the All-Star game ("Suck it Phaneuf!"), and I'd much rather have him than Burrows, but his contract ($4.75M until 2018-19 when he's 37) and NMC probably prevent it.

Don't like the idea of trading for an older player in his 30s for Edler. They have to get younger players/assets back. He was rumored to be going to the Bruins if the Kesler deal went through. Tampa might be another potential landing spot this off-season. Outside of Hedman, Carle (and the injured Salo), they have a no-name defense.

Island Nucklehead wrote:I'm sure the Flyers would go for it, but with Hartnell having a NMC, I don't see it working. He did seem to have fun with the Sedins during their time at the All-Star game ("Suck it Phaneuf!"), and I'd much rather have him than Burrows, but his contract ($4.75M until 2018-19 when he's 37) and NMC probably prevent it.

Don't like the idea of trading for an older player in his 30s for Edler. They have to get younger players/assets back. He was rumored to be going to the Bruins if the Kesler deal went through. Tampa might be another potential landing spot this off-season. Outside of Hedman, Carle (and the injured Salo), they have a no-name defense.

To Boston for the triplet!

Yeah, if Benning is indeed the new GM, you would think that trades between the two franchises would be easier to consummate vs. during the former GMMG era whom had a hard time pulling off any major deal in a timely matter.

Teams like Boston, Chicago, SJS, LA just seem to have the ability or willingness, or both, to not only recognize their cap situations and aging core, but to make the moves to effect change that keeps them elite. They are willing to let FA walk if need be and make trades. MG just never seemed to be able to pull the trigger.

Hockey Widow wrote:Teams like Boston, Chicago, SJS, LA just seem to have the ability or willingness, or both, to not only recognize their cap situations and aging core, but to make the moves to effect change that keeps them elite. They are willing to let FA walk if need be and make trades. MG just never seemed to be able to pull the trigger.

Yeah, pretty much. Former GMMG downfall was not to make adjustments to ever evolving "landscape" but to put the blame on the onus on the changing "landscape" for why the team stagnated and regressed after being near the top of the mountain.

Trading a future franchise player with Seguin was a bold move. Nothing GMMG did under his tenure came close to that. Probably the "boldest" move in his tenure was that bizarre debacle of the handling the goalie situation and trading The Cory at the last minute after he put his team in a Canucks Corner to have to make a move of one of them that ultimately led him to trade both when all was said and done.

Hockey Widow wrote:Teams like Boston, Chicago, SJS, LA just seem to have the ability or willingness, or both, to not only recognize their cap situations and aging core, but to make the moves to effect change that keeps them elite. They are willing to let FA walk if need be and make trades. MG just never seemed to be able to pull the trigger.

Yeah, pretty much. Former GMMG downfall was not to make adjustments to ever evolving "landscape" but to put the blame on the onus on the changing "landscape" for why the team stagnated and regressed after being near the top of the mountain.

Trading a future franchise player with Seguin was a bold move. Nothing GMMG did under his tenure came close to that. Probably the "boldest" move in his tenure was that bizarre debacle of the handling the goalie situation and trading The Cory at the last minute after he put his team in a Canucks Corner to have to make a move of one of them that ultimately led him to trade both when all was said and done.

To be fair, I would say trading Hodgson for Kassian was a pretty bold move at the time. Hodgson was the golden boy and Kassian was pretty much an unknown, except for his physicality.

Hockey Widow wrote:Teams like Boston, Chicago, SJS, LA just seem to have the ability or willingness, or both, to not only recognize their cap situations and aging core, but to make the moves to effect change that keeps them elite. They are willing to let FA walk if need be and make trades. MG just never seemed to be able to pull the trigger.

Yeah, pretty much. Former GMMG downfall was not to make adjustments to ever evolving "landscape" but to put the blame on the onus on the changing "landscape" for why the team stagnated and regressed after being near the top of the mountain.

Trading a future franchise player with Seguin was a bold move. Nothing GMMG did under his tenure came close to that. Probably the "boldest" move in his tenure was that bizarre debacle of the handling the goalie situation and trading The Cory at the last minute after he put his team in a Canucks Corner to have to make a move of one of them that ultimately led him to trade both when all was said and done.

To be fair, I would say trading Hodgson for Kassian was a pretty bold move at the time. Hodgson was the golden boy and Kassian was pretty much an unknown, except for his physicality.

Okay, that's a fair point. He was former GMMG's first ever pick and was the poster child of the three pillars he wanted his draft picks to espouse: "Character, Integrity and Intelligence."

Apparently, there was some sort of malfunction at the junction. IMO, less to do with Cody himself but how the relationship was managed between the player and the team. More specifically, the relationship between Cody and Coach AV.